Fourtytwo years after the original release, Follow That Dream Records issued a collector's edition of "On Stage - February 1970". Besides the tracks of the original album, it also featured excerpts of both concerts on February 18th as well as of the following day's midnight show. The recordings were mixed and mastered by Vic Anesini. As usual FTD presents the material on two compact discs, housed in a 7" digipak and accompanied by a well designed, informative booklet. Because Sony's own collector's label sticks to physical formats, the compilation is not available on the streaming platforms.

In this review I only deal with the material, that's not available on the original album. For a review of "On Stage - February 1970" just tap HERE.

Unfortunately RCA didn't record complete shows. Usually the engineer started the equipment after "All Shook Up" and "I Got A Woman". It looks like the whole shows were just taped on the opening night and the closing night, but these are just soundboard recordings, not professional multi-track recordings. However, Elvis cracks a few jokes and performs a high-energy version of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". If Bob Lanning hadn't missed the second break, this version would be perfect.

Jokingly Elvis welcomes the audience to the Flamingo Hotel and announces his latest record. Then he adds, that it's out for a month and therefore isn't all that new. During his performance the king changes the lyrics from "...together we'll find a brand new mommy" to "...together we'll put you on a bummer". At the time the word "bummer" was used to describe a horror trip, mostly caused by the drug LSD.

The audience laughs, because once again Elvis announces a new record. This time he was real, because "Kentucky Rain" had been released just a few days ago, while "Don't Cry Daddy" had been available since late November. Of course the king fools around with the lyrics. The "old grey bearded men" become "old grey bearded fools" and the line "as we drove on through the rain, as he listened, I explained" becomes "as we drove on through the rain, I realized, he's insane". I have to admit, that I had to laugh out loud, when I heared it for the first time. Without doubt, Elvis had a great humor.

This one is taken seriously by Elvis and his performance is just as good as the released one.

Here we have another serious and powerful rendition. It's comparable to the version on the double album "From Memphis To Vegas / From Vegas To Memphis".

The socio-critical song is also sung very well, but Elvis leaves out the line "well I may be common people, but I'm your brother". I don't know, if the king was distracted by something/someone or if he simply had forgotten the lyrics. During the bridge to "In The Ghetto" the sound engineer fades the recording.

Elvis and his crew had rehearsed the song during the afternoon. It was added to the show, because it turned out, that the program didn't include enough new material for the "On Stage" project. The performance is nice to hear, but not perfect. Before he sings "The Wonder Of You", Elvis explains, that he couldn't answer requests, because he had a time limit and can't do more than 16 songs.

Now Elvis takes some time to introduce a few celebrities in the audience. In this case they were Frankie Avalon, Marty Allen, Ray Anthony and Fats Domino. The latter one is described as a great inspiration, the king also intones Fats' signature song "Blueberry Hill".

Before the evening is over, Elvis offers a lesson regarding body english. He delivers a powerhouse performance of his previous year's number one hit and moves, like only he could do. The audience is cooking.

The show ends with the typical "Can't Help Falling In Love".

After an intentionally caused false start, Elvis delivers a hard rockin' version of the classic rock'n'roll tune.

Just like he would do a few hours later, Elvis welcomes the audience to the Flamingo and jokes a bit. But this time he delivers a serious and very good performance of "Don't Cry Daddy".

The king presents a shortened version of "Walk A Mile In My Shoes". For whatever reason he leaves out the second verse. Because "In The Ghetto" had already been featured on Elvis' previous live album, the engineer fades the recording during the bridge.

Jokingly the king claims, to have 84 more songs on his agenda for the evening. "Release Me" is performed with much energy, ironically he calls out to his pianist "play it, Jerry Lee".

During the spoken introduction Elvis is racked with cough. Of course he doesn't hasitate to include this in his "little story". Of course the king uses the song to present a series of his famed movements.

By now it's not surprising, that Elvis welcomes the audience to the Flamingo Hotel. The well known joke is followed by an energetic performance of "Long Tall Sally".

The king proves, that he masters the ballads just as well as the rocking tunes. Afterwards he commits himself to a lady on the edge of the stage, which causes some silence on the cd.  

After a few more jokes Elvis announces a tender love song - and belts it out! Even though he simply repeates the same four lines over and over again, he does it in such a powerful way, that it's enough to rock the house.

According to the king, the movie was made in 1926. First he provokes a false start, but then he sings the song and kisses the ladies.

Once again Elvis changes the lyrics and sings about the "old grey bearded fools", but otherwise it's a serious and well delivered performance.

This is another great rendition of this beautiful power ballad. It's a pity, that Elvis kicked the track after this engagement.

Another powerful performance of "I Can't Stop Loving You". The king fools around with the ending a bit.

This time the engineer recorded the complete medley. It's the same version (minus "In The Ghetto"), that we hear on the album "On Stage - February 1970". In contrast to the album, the unedited recording features the string section of the Bobby Morris Orchestra and the original harmony voices.

Before he presents the new song, Elvis excuses himself for not knowing what he does and claims to have lost control several hours ago. The performance itself is very good. At one point the king sings "love" instead of "kiss", but even though this is just a minor glitch, he feels urged to explain it to the audience.

Here we have a powerful and rockin' rendition of "Release Me". Unfortunately Elvis misses a few notes, so it was obvious right from the start, that this performance could not be used on the record.

Once again the king turns the heat up and celebrates Tony Joe White's swamp rock. He moves all over the stage and the ladies are screaming.

Now it's time to introduce the band. Afterwards Elvis welcomes two members of The Baltimore Colts (a football team).

Before he ends the show, Elvis presents the whole Presley package: A great voice, a truckload of body english and a dash of humor. It's a powerhouse performance, the place is cooking.

After the musical and visual climax the king bows out with "Can't Help Falling In Love". The golden curtain is closed, the show is over.